Sanjay Kumar, Punit Badeka, and Manoj Kumar Gaddam share a deep-rooted obsession with precision. Their cumulative 17-year-long stint building ultra-precision optics for ophthalmic and eye-imaging systems at Hyderabad’s LV Prasad Eye Institute only helped sharpen it. So, when private participation in India’s space and defence sectors accelerated in the late 2020s, the trio identified a glaring capability gap: India largely imported high-end Electro-Optical (EO) and Infrared (IR) imaging payloads. “Timelines, costs, and strategic dependencies were outside India’s control. As of 2023, India only operated 24 active EO satellites, depending on foreign providers for nearly 80% of its high-resolution imaging data,” says Kumar. They founded EON Space Labs in December 2022 to build and qualify indigenous world-class imaging payloads for dual-use needs, spanning CubeSats, satellites, drones, UAVs, and ground-mounted optics. “High-resolution imaging is one of the hardest proving grounds for compact and miniaturised optics, and if a startup can produce a commercially viable space-grade imager indigenously, it can scale and use it for dual-use defence and commercial applications targeting the export markets,” Kumar tells YourStory. Engineering for orbit, and beyondEON currently employs 17 people, extending capacity through strategic partners and accredited infrastructure. Bengaluru-based HHV Advanced Technologies handles the startup’s optics manufacturing, while an NABL-accredited facility in… Read MoreYourStory RSS Feed
